No. 1 Southwest defeats No. 8 Temple 65-52 in front of packed house to punch ticket to Final Four

The first time Rinaldo Callaway threw down a massive dunk in No. 1 Southwest’s third-round playoff game against No. 8 Temple, his team trailed by two points in the fourth quarter and had struggled to get the ball inside all night.

Since the refs waved the basket off because of a foul on the prior shot, Callaway’s jam was rendered moot — in the score book, at least. It did make an impact in another way: the slam gave the Patriots a surge of momentum. After Callaway gave them the lead with a layup on the next play, they never looked back. 

The second time the junior big man slammed the ball home, it sent a packed Duck’s Court into chaos, upped the Patriots’ lead to seven points and more or less cemented a 65-52 win that sent Southwest to the Final Four of the GHSA Class A-Division I state tournament.

As Patriots head coach Monquencio Hardnett celebrated with his team and the Southwest community on the court — he could not take two steps without a familiar face greeting him and dapped up at least three dozen people within minutes of the final horn sounding — the emotions in the building were high.

“One thing about Macon, Georgia, I know we’ll come together when it’s time to. They were big tonight,” Hardnett said. “(The crowd) gave them the energy in the second half, and that’s what made the
difference.”

Callaway said he fed off of the crowd’s reaction to his crucial plays inside, including his first dunk that was nullified and the second dunk that seemed to shake the building.

“Felt like I had to make up for (the first one), and I got the chance,” he said. “The ball came to me, my guard passed it to me. You know I had to finish it off.”

After a grueling football season — Callaway was a star tight end for the Patriots on the gridiron — the win was emotional.

“Last year we lost in this round, so we came in the summer and developed and got the win tonight,” Callaway said. “It was so big for us, for me.”

The big man’s late surge stood out because of its effect on the raucous crowd, but he was far from the only contributor in the electric playoff win. 

Junior C.J. Howard continued his clutch ways and hit key shots, finishing with a team-high 20 points. Chase Dupree chipped in with 11 points, mostly in the first half. Montese Green, a key morale man for the Patriots, figured into the game late with passes and rebounds.

Callaway had only eight points, but they all came in the second half. Six of them came in the final six minutes on crucial layups — and, of course, the jam.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Hardnett said of his team’s performance. “I’m so proud of them… Rinaldo is impressive because of how hard he works. Montese Green is right up there with him. They made a difference tonight.”

Though Southwest did struggle with free throws in the second half, its defense — particularly the defensive rebounding — suffocated Temple in the fourth after the Tigers had kept great pace in the first three quarters.

“We knew what we wanted to do defensively, we knew it would be a tough game. We knew we had to sustain through their runs,” Hardnett said. “It was adversity, but we’re better for it. It’s a game to go to the Final Four, it’s going to be tough.”

The Patriots will play No. 5 Toombs County, a red-hot team that won their region tournament despite finishing fourth in the regular season, this Saturday at 3 p.m. in Milledgeville. The Bulldogs defeated Vidalia on the other side of the bracket.

In a frenetic first half, it looked a bit like the Patriots might get out to an early lead with 3-pointers just as they did against Banks County in the Sweet 16. Howard made a pair of long-range jumpers as Southwest jumped out to a 10-2 lead quickly, but Temple fought hard and used a 3-pointer of their own and some foul shots to keep things tight in the opening quarter. 

Point guard Darren Drayton did an excellent job managing the ball for the Tigers, especially in the second quarter. His good decisions gave Temple solid looks under the basket, and a brilliant pass at the baseline to save the ball from going out of bounds gave the Tigers a three and a 23-20 lead with three minutes left in the quarter.

Southwest was shaky and struggled to score, as they could not move the ball inside with any consistency. Temple was plagued by traveling calls stemming from indecisiveness — a Tiger would think about hoisting a 3-pointer for a split second, long enough to stop his dribble, and then try to resume the play. The refs were unconvinced and blew the whistle at least five separate times for traveling in the first half.

Southwest bounced back from the slow start to the quarter and capitalized on a trio of foul shots to take a 27-24 lead at halftime.

The third quarter was similar to the first half. The Patriots jumped out to a bit of a lead, 34-28, before scrappy defense and shooting from Temple got the Tigers back in front. A halfcourt heave at the buzzer swished in to give Temple momentum and a 41-37 lead heading into the final frame.

The momentum did not last long, however, as Southwest roared to life in the final quarter. Callaway was the focal point with his dunk and layup game, getting the crowd loud and helping the Patriots pull away.